Farm Bill Very Important For Northwest Potato Industry

Many commodity group have discussed the importance of the 2018 Farm Bill for their respective crops, and the importance on farmers and the industry.  Chris Voigt Executive Director of the Washington state Potato Commission said since spuds are not subsidized, the Farm Bill means research dollars for local growers.  He told the Washington Ag Network those funds come in two ways.  One is the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which is a competitive grant program with the goal of addressing produce research issues.

“Then the other source of money is called the Specialty Crop state block grant program.  And this is money that is given from the federal government to each of the departments of agriculture, and that has been a critical source of funding not only for potato research projects but also for some of our consumer outreach efforts.”

Will a Farm Bill pass Congress in the coming year?  Voigt said if you’d asked him a year ago, he would have been confident the 2018 Farm Bill would have passed on time.  However, with so many other issues taking Congress’ time over the past six months, now he has some doubts.  But he points out there is reason for optimism.

“The word that we’re getting on the street is that it will be taken up likely in February, the committees will start working on the Farm Bill.  So, hopefully we can work on those research pots of money and make sure we retain those in the Farm Bill.”

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com